What's the best gear for planting/cutting?

[Imi Statue]

Hi gang

I'm setting up some new tanks over the next couple months and was going to buy some scissors and planting tongues from ADA but they want an atrocious price for them.

Does anyone know where to buy some good quality stainless steel tools for the purpose, that I will not have to sell my left eyeball to purchase?

I find some on Amazon but there is no info with those things, and my tools I need are for deeper tanks too. Mine are all 24" plus without gravel in them so longer tools might be necessary.

Thanks!

Imi

[gotplants]

You can buy curved ADA style scissors on ebay for $10-$20 dollars a piece. Same with the tweezers. You might want to check out a local Harbor Freight if you have one near you.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog...sult?q=tweezer

The tweezers are a bit short short but the price kind of makes up for it..

[Lurch98]

We have a couple folks on the forum that sell stainless tools for really reasonable prices in the Sponsors and Power Sellers board, or a number of medical supply websites also. For myself, I do 90% of my work with a short pair of wave scissors and a long set of point tweezers. They cost a bit more then Harbor Freight, but less then ADA, and to some degree, you get what you pay for.

[Imi Statue]

Originally Posted by Lurch98

We have a couple folks on the forum that sell stainless tools for really reasonable prices in the Sponsors and Power Sellers board, or a number of medical supply websites also. For myself, I do 90% of my work with a short pair of wave scissors and a long set of point tweezers. They cost a bit more then Harbor Freight, but less then ADA, and to some degree, you get what you pay for.

Agreed on that point I have bought many pairs of scissors and tweezers throughout the years but they always seem "lacking" if you know what I mean. So I thought of ADA and then I did a 180 after seeing how much they cost.

No problem I will go check out som other sites plus the people here..mmm do you have a ID of the person/Co. that has the medical ones you have seen? My search engine use sometimes lacks finesse...

Thanks

Imi

[HD Blazingwolf]

Marine depot sells a set of 6 inch curved scissors which are my favorite for trimming. I bought a 5 peace tweezer and scissor set off e bay which i modified the tweezers with a grinding wheel and sander to make them pincettes. Makes planting much easier

[Imi Statue]

Originally Posted by HD Blazingwolf

Marine depot sells a set of 6 inch curved scissors which are my favorite for trimming. I bought a 5 peace tweezer and scissor set off e bay which i modified the tweezers with a grinding wheel and sander to make them pincettes. Makes planting much easier

I found this that fits what I am looking for but still kinda high end price wise.
http://www.marinedepot.com/Taam_Rio_...FWMTTT-vi.html

Here's a link to a video of one of the things I will be using them for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gps2yppF5rQ

This needs the positioning of the eyelettes for my fingers to be facing the gravel for best results.

Imi

[blink]

I get mine from a local veterinary supply store, the prices on looong sterile medical grade gear can't be beaten.
They also have calving gloves.... in case you have to reach into a cow's hoo-hah or if your a sissy about getting fish water on your arms.

[Imi Statue]

Originally Posted by blink

I get mine from a local veterinary supply store, the prices on looong sterile medical grade gear can't be beaten.
They also have calving gloves.... in case you have to reach into a cow's hoo-hah or if your a sissy about getting fish water on your arms.

I would not be to worried about the water on me, I would be more alerted to getting any oils and sweat from my arm into the water and making the surface look dingy after a while... of course just acquiring some longer tweezers and cutters would get rid of this problem all together...

Imi

[Complexity]

Long tweezers. That's really the only specialty item needed.

I don't believe specialty scissors are necessary. I bought scissors for planted tanks a long time ago. Guess what. The darn things actually rusted (they were supposed to be stainless steel). Often, I just grab what's most convenient, and I have found that any pair of scissors works just fine. For stems, my thumbnail is actually my best tool because I can feel where the stem forks and "cut" the stem at the exact place I want without accidentally cutting the stem close by.

Leveling tools -- I find the little stainless steel leveling tools are not only unnecessary, but they are honestly not the best tool for the job. When I want to smooth out substrate, I don't want a little flat thing to work with. I find wider flat things work much better. I can get a variety of widths from plastic tools at the hardware store for a fraction of the price. And they float.

Curved tweezers -- bought em. Don't use them. I have yet to find an application for them. I sometimes grab them if a piece of food (wafer, rapashy, whatever) gets caught up in a plant leaf. Otherwise, I'm not really sure what the point is.

I have found that most of the tools advertised for planted tanks are not only unnecessary, but can easily to replaced with other tools readily available in most people's homes at a fraction of the price. The one and only tool that I find indispensable and not at all in the home are long tweezers. I use them every day for all sorts of things. I cannot imagine having a planted tank without them. I have 12" and 24" sizes and use them both.

So my advice regarding plant gear is to not run out and buy it all like I did. Wait to see what you really, truly need. Odds are you won't need most of it or you already have something that will do the job just as well, if not better. The money is better spent elsewhere.

[Imi Statue]

Yeah I have owned several types and they all rusted at some point. I just need something to get down into the deep and narrow when the tank is set up as I will have it packed with plants and wood, and the trimming of the hair grass is the last thing to get done.

Imi

[Diana]

I use hair trimming scissors, glass cleaning razor blade holders, and long tweezers and related tools bought at feed stores in their vet section. I have found a variety of long brushes over the years, too, good for cleaning in tight places.
The best tool for cleaning the little hole in the filter where the impeller sits is a shish-kabob skewer. It has a sharp point, is supposed to be stainless steel (it rusts), and is strong enough to break up snail shells that are stuck in there.
I have one of those clunky plastic reaching tongs, and use it only when I am in a hurry and do not want to get my hand wet. Usually I will just reach in with no tools and pick up whatever has fallen into the tank.

[HD Blazingwolf]

The ones i got from marine depot were 8 bux. Look under freshwater sprecialty.. my internet is spotty where im at or id find them for u

[reddhawkk]

Just to let you know, there are different grades of stainless steel and some stain less than others. Better quality materials will take much longer to rust than lesser quality stainless.

[HD Blazingwolf]

http://www.marinedepot.com/Nature_6....FWMTTT-vi.html

scissors. shorter is better for me, but i do have a long pair if need be. i do let my tanks grow in thick and sometimes i need the extra accuracy of a shorter blade. barring that, pinching with ur figner nails is a great trimming tool. its about as accurate as u can get